This project, funded by the NIH directly to the scientists at Photon Imaging, Inc., is to develop and utilize advanced array detectors for XAS experiments at SSRL. It is based on the development of new silicon drift chamber detector elements, whose performance is projected to be of excellent energy resolution at extremely high countrates for solid state detectors. The design, fabrication and testing of prototype detector elements was aggressively pursued in 1998. Significant results were obtained using large area detectors, 8 or 12 mm diameter hexagons of 0.35 mm thickness, with an external FET and low-noise charge sensitive preamplifiers. Detector performance was measured in the range of -75 to +25 0C using Peltier cooling and from 0.125 to 6 5sec amplifier shaping times. The measured energy resolutions were 159 and 263 eV FWHM for the 0.5 and 1 cm2 detectors, respectively (at 5.9 keV, -75 0C, 6 5sec shaping time). For the smaller detector elements, an energy resolution of 263 eV was obtained with the 0.125 5sec shaping time, which compares favorably with state-of-the art Si[Li] or Ge cryogenic solid state detectors.